SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran Baseball team (3-0) completed the opening weekend sweep of Howard Payne with a pair of dominant wins over the Yellow Jackets at Katt-Isbel Field on Saturday. The Bulldogs have swept Opening Weekend in all three seasons of head coach Kyle Palmer '09's tenure.

The Bulldogs scored in every even inning, cruising to an 8-2 series securing win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader against Howard Payne (0-3). Game one was highlighted by a 2-for-4, four RBI performance from Caleb Small (Round Rock/Gateway College Preparatory). 

After an uneventful first inning, a pair of singles set up an RBI groundout by Small in the second inning to get TLU on the board.

After HPU tied the game 1-1 in the third, Small pushed the lead to 3-1 in the fourth with a two-run home run to the deepest part of Katt-Isbel for the first TLU home run of the 2026 season.

In the sixth, Howard Payne scratched another run across before Caleb Small did more damage to the Yellow Jackets pitching staff in the sixth as an RBI triple turned into a little league home run following indecisiveness on the relay throw to extend the Bulldogs cushion to 5-2.

Back-to-back hit by pitches led off the eighth inning for TLU which set up a three-run inning of unearned runs as the Bulldogs scored their final three runs of the game in the eighth on no hits and two Yellow Jackets errors.

Freshman southpaw Jack Grames (Elgin/Elgin) earned his first collegiate victory, holding the Yellow Jackets to one run on two hits while striking out four. After Grames departed in the fifth, freshman Cody Andrade (Calallen/Calallen) tossed the final four innings to earn his first collegiate save - also allowing one run on two hits while striking out four.

In the victory, Small, Mathew Elizondo (Eagle Pass/Eagle Pass), and Michael Barrera (San Antonio/East Central) finished with a team-best two hits each.

In game two, TLU scored in each of the first three innings, cruising to a 14-4 run-rule victory over Howard Payne to complete the sweep.

The Bulldogs totaled double-digit runs for the second time this weekend and totaled 16 knocks, including four extra base hits in the win.

Chase Bourgeois (League City/Clear Falls) notched his second multi-hit performance of the weekend and finished with a team-high three RBI.

After totaling three runs over the first two innings, the Bulldogs broke it open with six runs in the third inning. Cooper Jen (Kyle/Hays) got the scoring started with a sac fly before two runs would score on more defensive miscues from the Yellow Jackets. Aiden Spires (Fort Worth/Arlington Heights), Bourgeois, and Caleb Alfaro (San Antonio/St. Anthony Catholic) also drove in runs in the inning.

A two-RBI double from Kadyn Hall (La Grange/La Grange) that he would come around to score on as well following more HPU defensive misfortunes capped a four run sixth inning as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 13-0.

Left fielder Kameron Miller (Kenedy/Kenedy) delivered the walk-off knock in the seventh with an infield single to the Howard Payne shortstop.

Right-handed hurler Triston McGowan (Vidor/Vidor) earned his first win of the season with a quality start, pitching six shutout innings.

In the win, four different Bulldogs recorded multi-hit efforts, led by a four-hit effort from Bourgeois.

Up next, Texas Lutheran welcomes #22/18 McMurry to Katt-Isbel Field to open SCAC play. The series opener is scheduled for 6 PM on Friday, Feb. 13. The entire three-game series will be streamed on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

For more information on Texas Lutheran baseball and all TLU athletics, you can find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics and @TLU_Baseball on X (Twitter), @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).